Hard Plateau - Any Help? Encouragement? Personal Experiences?

I had my 6 month check-up with Dr. Cacucci in mid-April and had lost approximately 97 pounds.  I was so thrilled!  I was so close to hitting the 100 pound loss. Then, it happened.  A hard, fast, stubbon plateau.  I have not lost even one ounce since my appointment.  Dr. C wanted me to up my exercise to an hour a day and to add a 1.5-2 ounce snack in the afternoon.  I have been doing this faithfully! And, still no weightloss - not even an ounce! After 6 weeks, I emailed the dietitians.  They give no sympathy or empathy, you know?  They told me that I was not eating enough (seriously!!!) and that I had to add another 300 calories to my day with protein, milk, fruit or combination. I am literally FORCING myself to eat.  At times, I get so full I just want to puke!  But, I'm doing it and keeping a very detailed food/exercise journal. Still, I haven't lost an ounce! So, I emailed them again this morning.  My answer was for me to stick to it for another week. Please, ANYONE out there who can help me?  Personal experiences?  8 weeks on this plateau is driving me NUTS! Have I quit losing weight for good?  Have I reached my body's limit? I am greatly appreciative of any advice, help, etc., that you can give me.  And, if anyone has LIVED THRU a plateau - please share and tell me that there is still hope.  That I will begin losing weight again.  I have another 70-80 pounds to go. Many thanks, Kelly

Kelly, Congrats on the terrific weight loss SO FAR! Woo-hoo! Now... Are you measuring yourself? Are your clothes still getting loser although your weight remains the same? If the answer is yes, then you are losing...but in inches, not pounds. As we exercise and tone up those muscles we lose fat..but replace it with good, healthy muscles. Now, what takes up more space....1 pound of lean rib eye or 1 pound of fat that you trim off of the rib eye? The fat takes up more space! The same holds true for our bodies. Fat takes more space. So if you replace 1 lb of fat with 1 lb of muscle, the scales won't change, but your clothing size will! As soon as your mucles have a chance to be caught up with all your working out, they'll allow the pounds to drop as well! I would advise any newbie to measure themself once a week! Are you eating enough? You should probably be getting in ~1200-1400 calories a day. Track it (I LOVE SparkPeople for this!). If you don't get enough calorie in, your body goes into starvation mode and refuses to allow a single pound out of it's sight. It's afraid that it may not get enough to sustain it.  Don't just up your calories with carbs or junk though! Target ~60-120 g protein, +100g carb (complex), -30 g fat, and +30 g fiber per day. Are you drinking enough? Water plays a very important part of weight loss! Target a MINIMUM of 64 oz per day. Does it all have to be 'water'? No. If it is sugar-free & caffiene-free, it's water! That is the old standard of Eight 8oz glasses. I drink from 16 or 24 oz bottles so I can keep track of mine easier. So far today, I've had 3 serving of 'water', 3 serving of 'Diet Splash', and am working on 2 servings of 'Fruit2 O'. That is my 8 minimum servings. I'll drink 3 more servings of 'water' on my way home from work. Are you taking your vitamins? We've all heard the importance of getting them all in EVERY day.. I have a platau buster on my profile...although...I think the best advise I ever heard (from someone who is now ~7yrs post-op) is that when on a stall, increase one or more of PEW: Protein Exercise Water. Also...try mixing things up a bit. If your exercise is usually walking, walk 3 days per week, but dance the other 4. If you normally jog, switch some of it off with swimming. Your body gets complacent with the same-old same-old. Please, let us know how it goes..... Sherri

Everyone's body reacts differently, but I plateaued also after 7 months.  I figured okay, so I'm not going to get any smaller, at least I lost almost 100 pounds.  I stopped weighing myself and just kept to the program with protein, water and exercise.  About 3 months out I noticed that my clothes were not really fitting anymore, they were too big!  My body was adjusting and moving past the plateau.  I am 19 months out and have lost 156 pounds so far.  I seem to have hit another plateau.  I'd like to lose another 16 pounds but know they will come off a lot slower. Hang in there, it will happen for you.  You've done great this far, way to go girl!

Hang in there.  You can lose more.  I had a 6 month plateau.  I switched dietitians and she told me to eat 4-6 oz of protein at each meal, if I was still hungry then to eat veggies.  I lost 3 lbs in the first week.  Sherri is right about the types of exercise too.  Your body gets used to doing the same thing day in and day out.  Try switching it up.  Ride a bike (K-Mart had some on sale for $59.99), go swimming, try an eliptical machine at the Y or a gym.  Just try doing something different.  Even if you can't do it for as long as whatever you are doing now, you'll be able to build up your stamina.  Its the change in how you use your muscles that will make the difference.  I can do 30 minutes on the elliptical without getting winded, but you should see me riding my new bike up a slight incline!  The bottom line is: don't panic!  Your body has to play catch up to all the changes you are putting it thourgh.  It hasn't given up on you, so don't give up on it.